News, possible items of interest, and random thoughts on various topics. Thanks for reading and please feel free to drop me a line! :-)

Who Is Mistral Dawn?

Mistral Dawn is a thirty-something gal who has lived on both coasts of the US but somehow never in the middle. She currently resides in the Southeast US with her kitty cats (please spay or neuter! :-)) where she works as a hospital drudge and attends graduate school. Taken By The Huntsman is her first effort at writing fiction and if it is well received she has ideas for several more novels and short-stories in this series. Please feel free to visit her on FaceBook or drop her a line at mistralkdawn@gmail.com

Friday, June 10, 2016

#Gems Of #Strength #Anthology: #Vanquish By Markie Madden!

Hey Everyone!! :-)

I've already told you about Gems of Strength, and the short story I contributed, Childish Things. So I thought it was time to tell you about the other fantastic stories in the anthology. And who better to tell you about these stories than the talented ladies who wrote them? ;-) The fabulous Markie Madden is here today to tell us about her contribution to the Gems of Strength anthology. Markie, take it away! :-)

Markie:
My story is called Vanquish, and it’s basically about the moment the nurses moved me from the cancer floor to the cancer ICU (you KNOW you’re really sick then) and how I fought tooth and nail to recover and regain a semblance of health. I think mine is the only non-fiction in the anthology! Here’s an exerpt:

“I was going to die, I just knew it. At this very moment, I could feel my life slipping away. I was alone. I was going to die, alone. Oh, there were plenty of people around me; there was a flurry of activity going on that I barely comprehended. But these people were strangers. I might have known their names at one point, but they flitted around the drug-induced haze surrounding my brain, escaping like wisps of fog in the light of dawn. I didn’t care about their names. I was going to die.

I was startled out of my reverie by the sensation of movement. Someone was pushing my bed down the hallway. For a moment, I couldn’t understand where they were taking me. Oh, that’s right. They’re taking me to the ICU. The rushing sensation from the moving bed was almost nauseating. I was sure if I were to open my eyes, the bright flashes of the long florescent lights would be dizzying. Besides, it took too much effort to lift my eyelids beyond the slits that seemed to be normal for me these days. My tiny frame shivered under the thin sheet. It seemed I could not stay warm; every gust of air hit me hurricane-force.

My thoughts drifted to my family. When I spoke to them earlier, I told them I would be changing rooms, but at that time, I didn’t know what room number. I had no idea if someone called them. I had no idea if I would ever see them again. At this point, I wished for death. There was no strength left in me, and this was only the beginning of a long battle. Everyone was cheering me on, telling me to keep fighting, to be strong. But the battle I was facing was like nothing else I’d ever encountered in my life; I didn’t know if I could win.

The bed turned a corner, and through my slitted eyes, I could see someone following me, pushing a tall, four-wheeled cart in front of them. The cart carried all my worldly possessions, at least, those I was allowed to have. At that moment, it felt like those items: my clothes, a few photographs of family, some get well cards, my phone, a couple of books, and my dad’s computer, encompassed the entirety of what I owned. Anything outside these walls was beyond the scope of my drugged mind.”

Here's my bio that’s included in the back of the book:

Markie Madden is a married mother of two living with her family in southeast Missouri. She has written stories since she was in the fourth grade, and after repeated rejections by both publishers and agents, she self-published her first book, Once Upon a Western Way (Kindle: http://geni.us/26Fb) in 2012. Markie battled cancer from 2013 to 2015, and she’s currently in remission from leukemia; she won’t be considered “cured” until 2018. Since cancer took her out of the traditional workforce, Markie turned back to her love of writing. She now has five books of her own, as well as two books she’s published for clients, other authors aspiring to reach their goals of publishing their work.

Markie’s books are available at all major print and e-book retailers and include: Keeping a Backyard Horse (an Amazon #1 best-seller, at http://geni.us/47ot), My Butterfly Cancer (Kindle: http://geni.us/46PE), and two books in her Undead Unit Series, Fang and Claw (Undead Unit 1) (Kindle: http://geni.us/4BBh), and Souls of the Reaper (Undead Unit 2) (Kindle:http://geni.us/1rCE) (both Undead Unit books have been in the top 100 at Amazon).

Books by other authors and published by Markie are Witchopedia: An A to Z Book of Shadows by author Naddya Foxfire, Rubies from the Heart: Dark Poetry by Cynthia Ruby, Unrelenting Hell (Apocalyptic Book 1) by Alana Madden, her youngest daughter (Kindle: ￼http://www.amazon.com/Unrelenting-Hell-Apocalyptic-Book-1-ebook/dp/B01DCQNCXU), and of course, Gems of Strength by The Sisterhood. She also has a short story called A Very Pepper Christmas published in The December Awethology Light by The #Awethors. Today, Markie is taking on more clients, and there are several books that she’s formatted for other authors. You can find Markie at her website: https://metamorphpublishing.com.